Video-first outreach, product demos, and customer education have exploded — and Vidyard is one of the platforms most teams choose when they want business-grade video hosting, personalized sales videos, and detailed viewer analytics. This post walks through what Vidyard is, what it does, how much it costs, the Chrome extension, what users say, top competitors, plus practical tips and FAQs people search for about Vidyard.

Quick snapshot

• What it is: A video platform built for business: recording, hosting, sharing, and measuring video used by sales, marketing, and support teams.
  
  
• Best for: Sales outreach, video hosting with analytics, personalized video campaigns, internal comms.
  
  
• Key strengths: Integrations (CRMs, marketing automation), viewer analytics, personalized video capability.

What is Vidyard?

‍

Vidyard is a video platform focused on helping businesses create, host, share, and measure video content — especially for sales and marketing. It bundles recording tools (browser extension, desktop/mobile apps), hosting pages with customizable players, email/embed workflows, and viewer-level analytics so you can see who watched, for how long, and what parts they skipped.

Core features (what you actually get)

• Record: Screen, camera, or both via browser extension or desktop app. 
• Host & share: Hosted video pages with embedding and email-ready players
• Analytics: Viewer-level metrics, heatmaps, play rate, engagement—useful for sales outreach and campaign measurement.
• Personalized videos: Tools to record short, personalized messages for prospects (one-to-one or scaled).
• Integrations: Native connections to CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot), marketing automation, and email tools so view events can trigger workflows.
• Security & enterprise controls: SSO, permissions, domain restrictions on higher-tier plans.

Vidyard pricing (what to expect)

‍

‍

Vidyard publishes tiered pricing (Free plus paid plans). The company’s pricing pages list plans such as Free, Starter/Plus (~$59/user/month billed annually), Teams, and Enterprise (custom pricing) — with increasing features like custom branding, advanced analytics, CRM integrations, and security controls at higher tiers. Exact names and prices can vary by promotion and billing cadence, so check Vidyard’s pricing page or contact sales for large teams.

Notes when budgeting

• Vidyard is positioned as a business tool (teams & sales)—expect per-seat or per-user costs on paid plans.
  
  
• For large deployments, Enterprise pricing becomes custom and may include per-user discounts, onboarding, and advanced SLAs.
  
  

Vidyard Chrome extension — install & use

What it does: The Vidyard browser extension (Chrome & Edge) lets you record your screen, webcam, or both; create quick videos; and instantly generate shareable links you can paste into email, chat or CRM. You can also use the extension to grab video thumbnails and track views.

‍

How to install

1. Search for Vidyard in the Chrome Web Store (or Microsoft Edge Add-ons).
   
   
2. Click Add to Chrome / Get and follow prompts.
   
   
3. Sign in to your Vidyard account and start recording from the extension icon.
   
   

How to record from the extension

• Choose Screen or Screen + Cam, pick which window/tab/screen to capture, then hit Start Recording. After recording, a shareable link and landing page are generated.
  
  

What reviewers say (summary of user feedback)

Across review sites (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius) common themes are:

‍

Positives

• Easy to record and share short sales/personalized videos.
  
  
• Powerful analytics that help sales teams prioritize follow-up.
  
  
• Strong CRM and marketing tool integrations.

Pain points

• Some users find the editing workflow less intuitive than lightweight tools (e.g., Loom).
  
  
• Pricing is often described as higher than simple screen-recording tools, particularly for teams that don’t need advanced analytics.
  
  
• A few customers report occasional friction with customer support responsiveness on specific ticket.

Vidyard competitors & alternatives

The video/sales-video space has many tools. Top competitors and alternatives commonly compared to Vidyard:

• Loom — quick async recording and sharing; simpler and often cheaper for internal comms.
  
  
• Wistia — video hosting + marketing tools with strong player customization and marketing analytics (more focused on marketing sites).
  
  
• Vimeo (Pro / Business) — hosting + streaming features, good for creative teams and large-scale playback.
  
  
• BombBomb / Sendspark / Dubb / Hippo Video — competitors focused on video email/personalized sales video workflow.
  
  
• Brightcove / Kaltura — enterprise-grade video platforms for larger streaming and media workflows.
  
  

How to pick between them

‍

• Want simple, fast internal recordings → Loom.
  
  
• Need marketing-site video with advanced player customization → Wistia or Vimeo.
  
  
• Sales personalization + CRM tracking → Vidyard, Dubb, or BombBomb.
  
  
• Enterprise streaming / large-scale CDN needs → Brightcove / Kaltura.
  
  

Use cases & who should consider Vidyard

• Sales teams using personalized videos in outreach (Vidyard’s viewer tracking is the differentiator).
  
• Marketing teams that want hosted videos with analytics tied to lead scoring and campaigns. ‍
• Customer success & support for how-to videos, onboarding content, and internal knowledge sharing.
  
• Enterprise communications where SSO, permissions, and security matter.

Pros & cons (quick list)

Pros

• Deep analytics and viewer-level insights.
• Strong CRM integrations and sales-focused workflows.
• Browser extension and desktop apps for flexible recording.
  
  

Cons

• Pricier than lightweight recording tools.
• Some users say editing can be less intuitive than competitors.
• Enterprise features require higher-tier plans / custom pricing.
  
  

Integrations & technical notes

Vidyard offers native integrations with major CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot), marketing automation platforms, and common email/communication tools so video views can trigger lead scoring, tasks, or email follow-ups. It also supports single sign-on (SSO) and team management features on paid plans.

Suggested workflow for a sales rep using Vidyard

1. Install the Vidyard Chrome extension.
2. Record a 30–90 second personalized video for a prospect (Screen + Cam).
3. Paste the generated Vidyard link into your email template; the video preview and viewer-tracking will attach view events to your CRM.
4. Use view analytics to prioritize follow-up (who opened, watched >50%, rewatched).

FAQs

Q: Will Vidyard host my videos or do I host them myself?
A: Vidyard hosts videos on its platform — hosting is part of the product, and many platform features (analytics, player customization) depend on that.

Q: Can I remove Vidyard branding?
A: Paid plans typically include branding controls (custom player, remove Vidyard branding). Check the specific plan details.

Q: Is Vidyard good for internal training videos?
A: Yes — it’s well-suited for internal onboarding and knowledge sharing, especially when you want view tracking and searchability. 

Final verdict — who should choose Vidyard?

Choose Vidyard if you need a business-focused video platform with strong viewer analytics and CRM/marketing integrations (especially valuable to sales and marketing teams). If your needs are limited to quick, internal screen recordings with minimal analytics, a lighter/cheaper tool (like Loom) may be a better fit.

‍